POETRY MONTH: 'Yet We Desire It above All' from In Praise of the Unfinished by Julia Hartwig

We offer a reading for the first seder of Passover tonight: a reflection on freedom and its mixed blessings by Julia Hartwig, born in Poland in 1921. (The poem is translated by John and Bogdana Carpenter.)

Yet We Desire It above All

Freedom does not mean happiness right awaythe free world hides more traps than tyrannymastiffs let loose from chains passions exceeding the horizonsteps entangled in the ropes of old bondsthat try to pull tight again

Freedom both for scoundrels and thosewho sacrificed themselves for itfreedom for those who feel as pure as a diamondand want to cut deeply surrendering passionatelyto a new slavery—of hatredfrom which the earth cracks like under dynamitechanging the course of rivers